


BOBBY'S SEXUALITY CRISIS SUMMER

by AgnesClementine



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, Fluff and Humor, M/M, background flarrie, bobby and trevor are not the same person, pointing at bobby: your honor. he's dumb, this fic is a mess i have no idea what's going on, well. attempt at humor, willex is in the background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:33:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29249586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgnesClementine/pseuds/AgnesClementine
Summary: The tank top is black, Reggie's skin is pale, shoulders and face pinked from the Sun. And his arms are not as scrawny as Bobby remembers them being. He blames tingly, tight feeling in his chest on the fact that Alex is a drummer and Luke has been prancing around in his cutoffs since they hit puberty and Bobby had to ask Carrie to open his peanut butter jar yesterday because he couldn't do it.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Carrie Wilson, Bobby | Trevor Wilson/Reggie Peters, Flynn/Carrie Wilson
Comments: 38
Kudos: 158





	BOBBY'S SEXUALITY CRISIS SUMMER

**Author's Note:**

> This is such a mess and I have no idea what's going on. Bobby is emotionally stunted and in love with Reggie. That's all. I'm not,,,,entirely satisfied with this. But whatever.
> 
> Let me know what you think and enjoy! :)

"Hey! I'm not late, right? I don't think I am, but it felt like it took me a long time to get here today."

Reggie is wearing a tank top. It's not a particularly important or interesting fact because he wore tank tops before- except it is kind of important and kind of interesting because this is the first time Bobby almost swallowed his tongue because of it. 

The tank top is black, Reggie's skin is pale, shoulders and face pinked from the Sun. And his arms are not as scrawny as Bobby remembers them being. He blames tingly, tight feeling in his chest on the fact that Alex is a _drummer_ and Luke has been prancing around in his cutoffs since they hit puberty and Bobby had to ask Carrie to open his peanut butter jar yesterday because he couldn't do it.

Luke pounds him on the back when his water goes down the wrong way and he chokes- and still follows the outlines of muscles on Reggie's arms through teary eyes.

"You good, man?" Luke asks him.

"Yeah," Bobby wheezes, clearing his throat. "Never been better."

"You're not late, it's the heat," Alex grumbles from behind his drums, slumped forward like the heat melted his spine, his snapback keeping his hair out of his eyes.

"Oh, good," Reggie says. He shoots a smile in Bobby's direction and the tingles come back stronger. And then Luke is hustling them into a warm-up before Julie arrives and Bobby forgets all about it.

✻✻✻✻✻

By 'forgets all about it', he means, he catches the sight of _his_ scrawny arms in the mirror while brushing his teeth that evening and does five push-ups in his room before deciding he can't be fucked with that. He's got Luke, Alex, and Reggie and if he's gonna be stuck with them for the rest of his life, they're sure as fuck gonna be opening his jars for him.

He's still lying face-down on the carpet when Carrie sticks her head in his room and promptly sits on the small of his back.

"Hey," he protests weakly, not even trying to dislodge her.

"You're driving me to the dentist's this Friday," she informs him. "3:15 pm."

"No, I'm not," he responds. "I'm having lunch with Julie and the guys."

"I'm your sister."

"Precisely," he tells her and jerks when Carrie pokes him in the ribs.

He retaliates by swatting at her half-heartedly, though it doesn't connect and Carrie only moves to lay on top of him, parallel, back-to-back. The back of her head fits between his shoulder blades, her hair tickling his neck and their breathing and the tapping of her fingers on her phone are the only sounds in the room for a while. Bobby is almost asleep when Dad appears in the doorway, blinking at their arrangement on the floor but not commenting before wishing them goodnight and going to sleep because " _he's, like, old_ ", as Carrie whispers to him.

✻✻✻✻✻

Reggie works in an ice cream parlor during summer break. It’s a five-minute walk away from his parents’ house on the beach, it has a direct view of the sea, good traffic, and the owners either don’t care enough or don’t know how to do inventory properly to notice when Reggie swipes a tub of mint ice cream every so often.

Bobby scoops a spoonful out of it where it sits between his and Reggie’s thighs and doesn’t think about his stupidly toned arms.

Lie. He absolutely thinks about them. _A lot._ And his swoopy dark hair and freckled cheeks and bright blue eyes-

Clearly, he’s dealing with it by not actually inspecting the way his heart skips a beat weirdly whenever Reggie smiles at him these days, and instead eats more ice cream.

Luke is looking at them in disgust from across the room, tuning his guitar at a safe distance. 

“I can’t believe I’m friends with you two,” Luke tells them, as usual.

“Mint is the best ice cream flavor,” Bobby responds, as usual.

“No, it’s fucking not.”

“I’m sorry your tastebuds are trash, get better soon,” Bobby says and scoops more ice cream into his mouth. Tormenting Luke is one of his favorite activities, so he goes out of his way to lick the spoon obnoxiously and hum in exaggerated content.

By the look on his face, Luke is regretting inviting him into their friend group in 3rd grade.

Reggie clears his throat next to him, flushed. It really is hot as hell, even inside the studio.

Before anyone can say anything else on the matter, the door swings open and Alex ambles in, a dopey expression on his face. 

“A guy ran me over,” he tells them. 

“What the fuck,” Bobby is the first one to speak. “Why are you smiling?”

“You got run over? _With a car?_ ” Reggie asks, squinting at him and how un-ran he looks. 

Actually, there are pattered band-aids on his palms.

“Hm? What, no. With a skateboard. Oh, ice cream,” he says and strides over.

“I’m sorry,” Luke says while Alex is busy plucking the spoon out of Bobby’s hand and stealing a scoop for himself. “But can you go back to the start?”

“What Luke said,” Bobby agrees.

Alex swallows, sits down on the coffee table, and explains his encounter with Willie, the skateboard guy. He’s fucking got it bad.

Julie gives them an inquiring look when Alex explains to her what happened to his hands, but they shake their heads at her. To them, or at least to Bobby, it’s common knowledge, but Alex will tell them when he’s ready.

“Willie sounds nice,” Reggie comments when they all finally get up to start practicing, and his fingers brush over Bobby’s hand in passing as he smiles at him. Bobby almost takes the cable out of his amp when he trips over it.

✻✻✻✻✻

“I think I like Reggie.”

The aircon is blowing cold air inside the car, but Bobby still feels overheated, palms sweating around the steering wheel and his throat dry. In the passenger seat, Carrie stares at him, stopped mid-motion in rooting through her purse for her wallet and phone.

“ _Like_ like?” She asks in the end.

“Yeah,” he admits. His heart is beating really fast. It’s probably not a good thing. 

“It was about the time,” Carrie says in response, which is not what Bobby expected. But then again, he didn’t expect himself to blurt it out in the dentist’s parking lot, and still, here he is.

“What?”

“Honestly, I didn’t think you’d get to it before Dad got you into therapy.”

“Carrie. What?”

She checks the clock display on the radio, then pats his knuckles. “Thanks for telling me, I’m gonna be late for my appointment.” Then she gets out of the car and throws out, “I’ll call you when I’m done!” and disappears inside the building.

Bobby stares after her for a long moment, sweeps it all under the rug, and then goes to pick up Luke and Alex.

✻✻✻✻✻

“-and his dad owns like this club,” Alex says, stabbing his plate with his fry as he talks animatedly, cheeks flushed like they always are when he talks about Willie. 

“Club?” Luke asks curiously and squeezes out maple syrup onto his hamburger before covering it with a bun and taking a bite. Seriously, he can’t say shit about mint ice cream.

“Uh, yeah. Hollywood Ghost Club.”

“Spooky,” Reggie says, cheek smushed against Bobby’s shoulder, and drops his pizza crust on the plate.

Bobby picks it up and takes a bite. 

Julie scrunches her nose at him from across the table because she thinks it’s gross. 

“He’s gonna fix us a gig there or what?” He asks, jokingly. And then chokes when Alex lets out a disbelieving laugh and says, “Actually, yeah.”

Luke almost drops his burger and Julie’s fry falls out of her mouth back onto her plate. Who’s gross now?

“Shut up.”

Reggie straightens. “What, for real?”

“Yeah!” Alex exclaims.

“Oh my, God,” Luke whispers. He’s sitting stock still, eyes wide and fixed onto some unseeing point on the table. He looks like he’s on a spiritual journey.

That is, until Julie takes his hand. Then, he bursts with excitement. 

“Holy shit, you guys! Do you know what this means? This is our shot!” He jumps on his feet and, despite protests and yelling, leans over the table to yank Alex into a smothering hug, almost sending all of their drinks clattering onto the ground. Bobby, to avoid getting elbowed in the face, pulls back on their side of the booth and practically smushes Reggie against the window with his body. Of course, he takes it as an invitation to sling his arms over Bobby’s shoulders and hug him against his chest, whooping loudly in glee.

Bobby is grinning too, laughing as the others are laughing because they’ve been playing parties and school dances since they formed the band last year and now they finally have a chance to perform in an actual club. But mostly, he’s grinning and blushing because Reggie’s got his arms around him.

✻✻✻✻✻

He was under the impression that they were done talking about it, so when Carrie crawls onto his bed at ass-crack of dawn the next day, waking him up with a knee to his kidney and “So. Reggie,” Bobby is regretting tearily begging Dad not to let her go spend the summer with her grandparents when they were ten- which shaped the rest of their summers from then on and thus got him into this situation. 

And to think all of that is because he has abandonment issues.

“The fuck,” he croaks into his pillow. “Go’way, Care.”

He doesn’t open his eyes, but he can feel Carrie shifting around until she gets comfortable next to him.

“Come on,” she jostles him with her elbow. 

“Early.”

“It’s a sleepover, we’re talking boys. Boy. Reggie.”

“It’s fuckin’ 6 am. That’s not fucking sleepover time,” Bobby grumbles.

“5:43 am, actually, and I know. You’re all weird so I thought you’d be more comfortable with this.”

“You suck.”

“You love me,” she responds assuredly. “Besides, what did you expect me to do when you tell me you finally realized you like Reggie.”

“Brave of you to say it like you’ve got your shit with Flynn figured out.”

There’s a pause in the conversation and Bobby cracks his eyes open just enough to squint at Carrie. She has her head turned to the side, and she’s looking at him like he’s the dumbest person who ever walked the Earth.

“Robert,” she says. “Flynn and I have been dating for three months.”

Bobby blinks. “No, you haven’t.”

“I’m positive that we have been. There’s hand-holding and kissing and all that. We’re very cute.”

Bobby blinks again.

“Now tell me about your crush, you idiot. Do you wanna hold his hand?”

“...yes.”

Carrie squeals.

✻✻✻✻✻

He arrives at the practice late, drenched to his bones and panting from running since the moment the downpour started a few minutes ago.

“You’re late,” Luke says.

“You’re wet,” Julie adds.

“Yeah, he responds, toeing off his sneakers and socks ( _wet socks eugh, gross, gross, gross_ ). “Happens when you get caught in rain without an umbrella.”

He shoves his hair out of his eyes and where it got plastered to his face and peels his shirt off. It falls on the floor with a wet splat.

“I’ll bring you a towel,” Julie says and disappears through the door with an umbrella while Alex goes up to the loft and throws down a few random items of their clothing that accumulated here over a year.

“You walked?” Luke asks.

“Carrie needed the car,” he says and starts struggling with his jeans. “She forgot to tell me. Or I forgot that she did tell me. Anyway, that’s why I’m late.”

Luke hums and next to him, Reggie is looking out ahead with a vacant look in his eyes, indicating that he’s checked out of the conversation and is currently in what everyone dubbed Reggieland.

“Coming in, please say you have your underwear still on,” Julie calls out, entering with one hand over her eyes and holding out a towel in her other.

“Of course I do, I’m not Luke,” Bobby says, snatching a pair of Alex’s sweatpants and Reggie’s T-shirt from the floor and the towel from Julie’s hand before beelining it for the bathroom as Luke yells, “Hey!”

✻✻✻✻✻

Alex and Luke were bickering for the last few days, so when Bobby comes to the studio to find them cramped around Luke’s notebook, he breathes out a sigh of relief. Alex was spending a lot of time with Willie lately, and Luke got friend-possessive, but they seem to have worked that out. Thank God, things were starting to get a bit tense.

He shares a look with Julie, both of their shoulders sagging. They have a little over a week until their performance at HGC, and now they can finally focus on that properly.

Reggie is wearing a tank top again- something that became a special type of _wonderful_ torture for Bobby- and he’s slowly but surely working up a tan, but thankfully, the practice passed without any incidents. This time.

When they’re done, Alex walks over to him and clears his throat. “Hey, um, think you can give me a lift home?”

“Yeah, sure,” he says with a shrug. “You’re ready to go?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Bobby feels eyes on him, but when he looks over, the others quickly look away and he shrugs it off as he leads Alex to his car. What the hell was that about?

He figures out when they stop at an intersection and Alex, turning off the radio, says, “I’m gay.”

Bobby is not surprised (maybe a little bit by the timing), and he remembers what he wants to say, what he rehearsed saying for when Alex does come out to him. And for all of his friends, actually- which is a good thing because when Carrie came out to him and Dad, his response was spitting his cereal all across the table and he did end up utilizing his pre-prepared speeches on all of them. But, instead of his speech, what leaves his mouth is, “ _I’m_ gay.”

He closes his eyes and scrunches his face because, shit, that’s not right. “Well. Bi, actually.”

Alex blinks at him a few times rapidly like he’s visually digesting that information, then asks, “You are?”

“Yeah.” Then something clicks and he asks, “Hey, am I the last one who you came out to?”

“Sort of?” Alex says sheepishly. “If it makes you feel better, you’re the only one who I actually planned to come out to? It just...happened with the others. And- and I don’t plan on telling my parents so, um.”

Bobby nods in understanding. “Of course,” he says because he knows how Alex’s parents can get.

And he’s not actually upset; Julie and he work in the theater together, and he walks home with Luke because they live one street away from each other and goes to the comic-book store with Reggie on weekly basis. 

He and Alex usually have impromptu movie nights every so often, but Bobby was a little bit stuck inside his head lately to reach out and he assumes Alex was the same, what with spending so much time with Willie.

Which-

“So, Willie?” Faintly, he realizes, aghast, that he sounds like Carrie, but Alex turns red so he just grins.

“I- yeah. Willie,” Alex says, smiling.

“Okay,” Bobby says. “I’m happy for you. And this doesn’t change anything. Obviously.”

Alex chuckles. “Yeah. Um, thank you for telling me, yeah?”

Bobby nods, then, because it would come out eventually so he might as well say it now that they’re having a moment, he says, “It’s Reggie for me,” and starts driving when he notices that the light is green.

In the passenger seat, Alex opens his mouth to say something, sighs, and then says, “You know, I’m actually surprised you actually figured it out.”

Bobby frowns. “Did everyone fucking know but me?”

“Probably,” Alex says and relaxes into his seat.

That relaxation goes away when Bobby parks on his driveway.

While Alex is unbuckling his seatbelt and checking he didn’t leave anything behind, Bobby tells him, “Hey, if they ever get too much, you can call me and you can stay over for as long as you want.”

Alex hangs his head. “I would totally hug you right now if they weren’t spying on us through the window.” He looks at Bobby through his bangs and says, “Thank you.”

✻✻✻✻✻

Bobby doesn’t have a habit of keeping secrets. Secrets are exhausting and often bring more damage than good once they’re uncovered. So Bobby didn’t really have any doubts about coming out to his dad. Besides, Carrie did all the hard work already when she came out- Bobby has his work cut out for him; he already knows what his reaction will be. And he did plan on telling Dad soon- just not when he’s about to board a plane for Europe because that’s just shitty. He still does it.

They’re in the car in front of the airport and while Dad is rambling about emergency numbers and food and calling him if anything happens and even if nothing happens because “you’re my kids and I’m gonna miss you”, Bobby says, “Dad, I’m bi.”

Carrie’s eyes go wide in the backseat.

There’s silence, Dad’s mouth still open on whatever word Bobby just cut him off on, and then he glances at his watch and says, “You little shit. You just had to do this when I’m 20 minutes away from boarding a plane.”

“You can be a really great or a really shitty dad in ten minutes,” Bobby tells him in response, shrugging.

Dad looks at him, disbelieving. “Okay,” he says. “Come on, out of the car we go.”

They clamber out and on the sidewalk, Dad sets his hands on his shoulders and says, “Thank you for telling me, I’m proud of you and I love you, and you’re a horrible son for doing this right now, I have a speech, you know.”

“I know, Dad,” Bobby says, shuffling his spot.

“Go easy on him, you know he’s stunted,” Carrie says from behind him.

“Hey,” both he and Dad protest.

“Dad, he didn’t realize he had a crush on Reggie for the past three years until like last week.”

Dad looks at him. “Bobby. How?”

He scratches his temple and says, “Dunno, thought I was developing a heart condition or something.”

“Jesus Christ,” Dad says. “I’m getting you a therapist. You really did inherit my messed up brain chemistry.”

✻✻✻✻✻

Julie’s dad lets them borrow a van for their gigs, so they pile in their instruments and squeeze into the remaining space, and then Bobby drives them over, Alex giving him directions from the passenger seat. They already have a system in place, so unloading goes fast and without a hitch.

Reggie has just gone inside to help Alex with the last of his drum set, which left Luke and Julie and him in the van, making sure they really have everything.

“Hey,” he says, yanking the keys out of the ignition. “So, uh, I know this won’t change anything, but I just want to let you guys know I’m bi.”

Because, apparently, coming out to his friends and family inside a vehicle became his thing. He might as well stick with it.

Julie and Luke beam at him like they’re synced up and it’s as creepy as it’s adorable.

“That’s great!” Luke bursts out, leaning over to hug him clumsily across the seats. 

“Thank you for telling us,” Julie adds, reaching over to squeeze his hand. “And you’re right, this doesn’t change anything. Except adding to our brand. Flynn is gonna love it.”

Bobby snorts and then detangles from them because they have a gig to play.

✻✻✻✻✻

They absolutely own the club for the whole duration of their stage presence. Julie and Luke hypnotize them with their magnetism, Alex and he hook them in, wrap them in their rhythm, and Reggie breathes in the life into crystals and elegance and calm. He bounces around the stage, quick on his feet, and lights make his eyes flash like blue sapphires. 

Bobby might have realized that he likes him- likes guys- because he wore a stupid tank top, but he liked him way before, when he doodled on the margins of his maths notebook while helping him with his homework, and when he made him watch Star Wars for the first time and made him love the movies just because of how much he loved them, and when he first started bringing him his favorite ice cream. Honestly, he can’t blame anyone for calling him dumb for not noticing before because, now that he’s aware and can give a name to the feeling in his chest whenever he as much as thinks about him, it’s pretty fucking obvious.

Luke and Julie are talking to Willie’s dad at one of the tables, and Willie and Alex are dancing, and Bobby thinks that it’s a really good night for something wonderful to happen.

So he finds Reggie talking to a pair of dancers near the bar and touches his elbow.

“Hey,” he says lightly when Reggie turns and grins at him widely. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Reggie makes a curious noise and says, “Sure.”

They excuse themselves, and Bobby leads them to a corner of the room for privacy. 

“What’s up? Is everything okay?” Reggie asks him.

Bobby nods. “Yeah, everything’s fine. I just need to tell you something.”

“Oh?” Reggie says, squaring his shoulders. “Alright, hit me.”

“I like you,” he says, but now it feels too weak. “Actually, I love you. And I’d like to kiss you.”

That is more fitting.

Reggie is quiet for a second and Bobby is starting to wonder if maybe he got it all wrong- but then Reggie beams at him. “Fucking finally,” he says.

“You knew I liked you?” This is getting old. “And you didn’t say anything?”

“I hoped,” Reggie corrects him softly and reaches out to fiddle with the strap of his suspenders. 

“I didn’t know you liked me until now.”

Reggie’s fingers still and he says, “I- I steal you your favorite ice cream.”

“Yeah,” Bobby says. “I love that, it’s really nice.”

“You really didn’t know?” Reggie asks.

Bobby shakes his head.

“Wow.”

Bobby clears his throat. “My dad’s getting me a therapist, so hopefully I won’t miss any important hints anymore.”

“You’re missing one right now,” Reggie says.

“I am?”

“Yep.”

He tries to wrack his brain for it, but he comes up short.

Reggie makes a small amused noise in the back of his throat, eyes soft, and says, “I really want to kiss you right now, you dumbass.”

_Oh._

“Oh,” he says and clears his throat, face hot and hands clammy, his heart beating with excitement. “Uh, go ahead.”

Reggie grins and it’s the most beautiful thing Bobby has seen in his life.

“Don’t mind me if I do,” he says and pulls Bobby in by his suspenders.

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it to the end, congrats!
> 
> You can shoot me asks and hcs on [my tumblr JatP sideblog](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/the-anxious-gay-drummer) if you want :D


End file.
